ABSTRACT
Group analysis is 'a form of psychotherapy by the group, of the group, including the conductor'. The group is the agent of change; the conductor simply part of the group. S. H. Foulkes highlighted the importance of the conductor's role as 'group member'. This is core to the group-analytic spirit since the conductor is inevitably embedded in the matrix in which and with which he works–a participant in what he observes. Group composition is the therapist's first and most enduring contribution to the group for its membership will determine the outcome of therapy. A conductor's therapeutic activity is synonymous with their interventions. Interventions generally describe verbal utterances: questions, clarifications, challenges, observations, interpretations. Open facilitation aims to promote group 'process' without seeking to influence its direction. It is a 'lubricating activity'. In group analysis, dreams are also highly valued but an understanding is complicated not least by an appreciation of the implications of a 'social or interpersonal unconscious'.
